Can Nikita Johnson Pull Away or Will Parity Reign in IMS Twinbill?

Nikita Johnson enters the INDY NXT by Firestone doubleheader this week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as the points leader, with two wins in the opening four races.

The Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR driver (photo, top) also brings a strong track record to the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit, earning five podium finishes in six starts across USF2000 and USF Pro 2000, including a victory during last year’s USF Pro 2000 tripleheader weekend.

SEE: Race 1 Event Details | Race 2 Event Details

With races scheduled for Friday, May 8 (4 p.m. ET, FS2) and Saturday, May 9 (2:30 p.m. ET, FS1), Johnson has a chance to further separate himself from the 24-driver field during one of the most important weekends of the season. Both races also air on FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.

Here are five storylines to watch:

Andretti Global’s Turn?

Andretti Global has just one win in four races this season after winning 18 of the previous 25 races entering the 2026 season.

Rookie Max Taylor sits second in points, 23 behind Johnson, but has shown mixed results in junior categories at IMS. Lochie Hughes, meanwhile, owns an impressive track résumé, including a win and second-place finish in INDY NXT last year in addition to results of second, second and first in USF 2000 and third, second and third in USF Pro 2000 competition.

This season, Hughes (photo, above) finished fifth in St. Petersburg and Arlington but 12th and 16th, respectively, in Barber Motorsports Park doubleheader. That leaves him seventh in points and in dire need of a strong weekend.

Seb Murray is 10th in points with three top-10 finishes in four starts this season. But he was only 12th in both races last year as a rookie, his lone starts on this track.

Josh Pierson finished seventh in St. Petersburg, but that’s his lone top 10 in four starts this season as he enters 18th in points. Pierson has 10 IMS road course starts across all three junior category levels. He’s made five INDY NXT starts on this track, all with HMD Motorsports, with a best result of sixth in Race 1 last year.

He was third fastest in the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on Oct. 27, trailing only Murray and Taylor. Hughes was sixth.

Does this translate to a race win or two this weekend for the team?

Can Anyone Sweep the Weekend?

A doubleheader sweep at IMS remains rare. Since the format was introduced in 2014, only Colton Herta (photo, above) has accomplished the feat, in 2018.

Last season, Andretti Global won both races with different drivers -- Hughes in Race 1 and Dennis Hauger in Race 2. The most recent sweep in the series came in 2024, when Caio Collet won both races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The two races this weekend are of differing lengths. Race 1 is 35 laps with Race 2 set at 30 laps.

First-Time Winner Incoming?

The IMS road course has become a launchpad for breakthrough wins. Race 1 of this doubleheader has produced a first-time winner in four of the last eight tries.

That trend has carried into 2026, in general, with three of the first four races captured by first-time winners – Johnson (St. Petersburg), Taylor (Arlington) and Alessandro de Tullio (Barber Motorsports Park).

Only seven drivers in this weekend’s field have won in INDY NXT competition (Johnson, Taylor, de Tullio, Salvador de Alba, Matteo Nannini, Hughes and Myles Rowe), leaving plenty of room for a new name to emerge.

But Taylor, Johnson and de Tullio were second, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Chris Griffis Memorial Test.

Still, keep an eye on Murray (photo, above), Pierson and HMD Motorsports rookie Tymek Kucharczyk. The Polish first-year driver has finished third in three of four races this season and was ninth in the October test. His teammate Enzo Fittipaldi, who sits fourth in points with two runner-up finishes, was 11th in the test.

Parity Early in the Season

Recent seasons have seen dominant early runs, including Hauger’s four wins in five races last year.

This season has been different. Three winners in four races point to greater parity, something not seen since 2023, when five different drivers won the first five races.

Smaller Teams Making Noise

Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR has already won twice this season with Johnson, while AJ Foyt Racing captured the most recent race at Barber with de Tullio.

Both organizations are outperforming expectations against larger teams like Andretti, HMD Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing.

Juan Manuel Correa (photo, above) is another driver to watch this weekend. Driving for Cusick Morgan Motorsports, he sits sixth in points with three top-10 finishes in four races. He returns to the site of his INDY NXT debut weekend last year.

Track Specs: 2.439-mile, 14-turn natural road course

Qualifying Record: Ed Jones, 1:14.6743, 117.583 mph, May 13, 2016

Push To Pass Parameters: 150 seconds of total time, with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation.